dot-art Schools is now welcoming applications from schools in the Liverpool City region and Cheshire to showcase the artistic skills of Year 5 and Year 9 students.
Registration is open until Christmas for mainstream and Special Educational Needs schools to sign up for the highly regarded 2017-2018 art competition.
The annual competition entries can be of any theme and will be shortlisted by noted arts professionals, culminating in a public exhibition with winners selected by an online public vote. A prestigious award ceremony is hosted for students and their families where the overall winners and runners up are chosen by a special guest judge.
This year we can reveal that the exhibition, formerly held at St Georges Hall, will be hosted by our project partner Liverpool John Moores University at the Liverpool School of Art & Design. dot-art Schools project manager Carolyn Murray explains: “The competition is designed to celebrate the creative talents of young people and develop the next generation of rising stars, so we are delighted to hold the public exhibition showcasing the pupil’s artwork to their parents, family and the wider community in such an appropriate and inspiring setting as the art school.”
Since its inception in 2012 the competition has thrived, with over 200 schools taking part to date and more than 4000 young artists. dot-art Schools is committed to championing creative education in schools and through its inter-school competition, gives young people confidence and pride in their creative abilities, skills used across a vast number of career pathways.
Looking back to the competition’s inaugural year the overall prize was awarded to James Murphy from St Margaret’s Church of England Academy. Years later James is confidently forging a career in the arts, having curated his own exhibition in Liverpool’s Domino Gallery and is now in higher education studying creative media. In 2012 James said, “I have always had a love of art yet never thought of following it through as a career until the dot-art Schools win. Since then I took a huge interest in animation and have been in contact with several designers and animators at Disney, Florida who admire my work and have helped me develop in my aspirational career so far.”
The overall winners for primary and secondary categories over the past six years have showcased a broad range of artistic themes, reflecting the diverse work schools are doing in art and design. Past winning schools have included St Hilda’s CE School, Christian Fellowship Middle School, Rainhill High School, St Patricks Primary School.
As well as inviting schools to sign up to the competition we are currently seeking companies who believe in the importance of creative education to become dot-art Schools Champions. Many schools would love to take part in the dot-art Schools programme but budget cuts have made it a challenge, so for a small contribution you could enable a school to take part in our programme.
Schools can sign up to the programme until 20th December 2017. Find out how by visiting: schools.dot-art.com emailing [javascript protected email address] or calling 0345 017 6660.
